curry chicken & mango salad

london, england is one of my favorite places in the world. i was lucky enough to live there twice (briefly) - once on a semester abroad and then for 6 months soon after i graduated from college. coming back after that 6 months was almost physically painful. every day for the next more-than-a-year i actively missed the city and cursed the work visa restrictions that had sent me home. 

now it's been TEN years since i was there (!). i still can't really believe it, but a combination of no money and little time (among other things) has kept me from going back to visit. i'm hoping to go soon, though, once i start raking in the big lawyer cash (ha! just kidding! i specialized in public interest law like a sucker!). now that i have several dear friends living there, it's become even more of a priority, so ojala i'll be visiting ye olde towne sooner rather than later.

in the meantime, i can make things like this curried chicken salad and pretend it's coronation chicken. during my after-college stint there, i worked as a medical secretary in an oncology hospital in central-ish london. it was somewhat depressing work, as can be imagined, but it paid well and everyone i worked with was charming. there was also an adorable little park nearby and virtually every day i would go to the pret a manger and get a sandwich, then go to the park and read. they had several iterations of coronation chicken which i never got to try, since i was a vegetarian then. but they probably weren't as good as this version, anyway, so hopefully i didn't miss out too much. 

start with perhaps a cup and a half or two cups of bite-sized-ed chicken. i like to use some white meat and some dark, because that's how i roll (flavorfully and with pleasing texture), but you can use whatever. it could be roasted or poached or even grilled. usually i just roast some bone-in breasts and drumsticks in the oven for one dinner, then use the leftovers for salad. 

i only used half a mango for this batch, but more wouldn't be bad. cutting up a mango is easiest if you slice down one of the flatter sides of it, use a knife to score the flesh in whatever size you'd like, making sure not to cut through the skin, then push it sort of inside out so you can just slice the cubes off the skin part. you probably want to cut it into pieces a little smaller than those above.

then just mix everything together, let it sit for a bit to meld the flavors better, and pile it on a sandwich or in a pita or have it with crackers or little toasts or even stuffed into tomatoes, once they get really summer-good. the curry isn't overpowering, but it's a welcome change from regular chicken salad and the sweetness of the mango and slight tartness of the yogurt are really nice. it's basically a perfect summer salad. whether you imagine yourself in london when you eat it is up to you. 

~ 1 1/2 - 2 cups chopped cooked chicken (i used about 2/3 of a large breast + 2 drumsticks)
1/4 cup each mayo and yogurt
salt
1/8 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp curry powder
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 a mango
handful cilantro
4 or 5 thinly sliced scallions


listening to: the herbaliser, solex

japanese baked chicken katsu curry

somehow i never had japanese curry until last summer, despite my abiding love for all things curry. it was a revelation and now i crave it regularly. while i also love indian and thai curries, there's something different and particularly addictive about the japanese style. it's kind of sweet, but not in a coconut milk way. it's spiced, but not spicy. i don't know - basically it's just really good and i wish i was eating some right now.

as the wikipedia link mentions, you can certainly make it from scratch, but people often use mixes.* i got this one from uwajimaya, which is an awesome asian market with all kinds of stuff, but it should be available at any asian market or at some supermarkets. i don't know that this is the best one around, but it was good enough for us. here is a link to a taste test of some - i will probably try another next time.

the traditional vegetables to put in the curry are potatoes, carrots, and onions (my onion was a farmer's market one, hence the little round slices at bottom right). i also added a sliced jalapeño this time and another time when i made it i used a small sweet potato as well. it's totally simple - just cut up the vegetables, as above, then cook the onion for a couple of minutes until it's translucent. then add the others and add however much water the curry roux box tells you to add. for mine, it was 3 cups of water for 1/2 the package. the curry comes in little blocks that you break up into the vegetables/water mixture once the vegetables are softish and basically done. then it thickens up and makes your house smell amazing.

you can add some kind of protein to the vegetables you use and have the whole thing over rice or noodles (which would be the best 15 minute meal ever), but i like making a version of chicken katsu to have with it. the curry can just sit for a bit while you make the chicken katsu, if you're doing that, or there is plenty of time to make that part while the chicken is baking.

usually katsu (which can be pork, beef, ham, chicken, etc) is breaded and deep-fried. i am kind of scared of deep frying things, and i don't have a thermometer for that kind of business, so i decided to just bread and bake some boneless skinless chicken thighs. Thighs are good for this because they are less likely to dry out than breast meat. also they are usually pretty cheap, even when you spring for the ones that are humanely raised and slaughtered.

the first time i made this i put the chicken into a plastic bag and smacked it a bit with the bottom of a heavy pan - i was trying to make it flatter so it would cook more evenly. i still think this is a good idea, but the next time i made it i didn't do that and we still ate it with gusto. so, your choice.

then you need to dip each piece in seasoned flour - just some salt and pepper will do. then have your station set up so you can dip into beaten egg (i used just one normal egg for a little over a pound of meat), then into seasoned (s+p again!) panko bread crumbs. the panko ones are great for this because they are bigger and scragglier than regular bread crumbs and they crisp up really well. i guess you could use regular bread crumbs, but panko is everywhere now so you should be able to find it easily in the supermarket (by the prole bread crumbs, probably. or in the asian section).

then just put them on a baking sheet and stick them in the oven for about 40 minutes or so. it depends on how thick they are, really. if you have a meat thermometer, use that to check the thickest part of the meat. otherwise, just cut into it and see if it is raw. if it is, cook it more! if this approach makes you nervous, probably you should spring for a meat thermometer.

you should probably make some rice at some point, too. we used jasmine rice that i just tossed in the rice cooker (best. invention. ever.), but you can use whatever kind.

sadly, i don't have a picture of the finished dish. this is for a number of reasons, such as that it was dark when we finally ate and also it is hard to take a picture of brown curry and vegetables and chicken and have it look pretty. so let's just say it looked exactly like this:

(imagine a very pretty katsu curry dish)

anyway, you get the idea. rice, vegetables in amazingly delicious curry sauce, crunchy chicken. it is the new favorite meal of our household and we love it lots. maybe you will as well!

*i should note that my friend who is half japanese was pretty strongly insistent on the need to make the roux yourself. but he has never given me a recipe to do so, so until that happy day comes, i'm sticking with this.

*ingredients* for like 6 servings? it depends on how hungry you are.

curry

1 large onion (or two medium ones or whatever)

4 small carrots (or like 2 carrots and some sweet potato, etc)

some potatoes - i used four mediumish ones

jalapeño (optional)

1/2 package japanese curry roux mix

baked katsu chicken

~1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs

~ 1/3 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

~ 1 cup panko bread crumbs (this is inexact, obviously, but you just want to really coat them well with the crumbs)